russelfandomcom-20200213-history
Love
Manila Standard (page 20), Friday, July 25, 1997 THE fourth anniversary celebration of Love Notes, the weekly TV series aired over ABC Channel 5 at 6 to 7 p.m., ends this Sunday with a sequel to its pilot episode wherein headliners Rustom Padilla and Carmina Villaroel, the love tandem from the original cast, will reprise their roles. Love Notes, however, is more than just a television show based on the nine-year-old music and request-and-dedication program still airing over TM's 89.9 FM band anc anchored by mainstay host Joe D'Mango. Joe D': A shoulder to cry on Over the years, it has spawned its own weekly radio program with a different format, a weekly column in a major daily, an avalanche of e-mail, and a love niche in cyberspace but which is still undergoing construction. It's a wild guess but a savvy entrepreneur could already be considering souvenir merchandising for the multi-media love package. What accounts for the popularity and continuing support of all these "Love Notes" that its originator could not pin down to a heartbeat, is that we are all suckers for romance. Just try counting the number of times you have recited to yourselves the trite phrase "It is better to have loved and failed, than never to have loved at all," over and over and over... It's a belligerent attitude that all boils down to the excuse, "the heart has reasons hat reason cannot know." These are the very same reasons that fuel the staying power of Rolando Sulit, a.l.a. Joe D'Mango, and all of his "love endeavors." The moniker according to him is an early contribution from his station manager. It is a corruption of the legendary center fielder Koseph Paul "Joe" DiMaggio's name who was also first husband to Hollywood icon Marilyn Manroe. Although the nickname is already a household name that immediately limns a DJ, anchor, and writer, there is still Rolando the overachiever. This fellow is a dedicated set/window designer and techno-enhancer. Set designing is a cinch according to him, but he had formal schooling in digital programming at AMA Computer College. There is a long list of sets to his credit but only a handful of techno-enhancements, an auto barcode dispenser, digital productivity counter, low temp incubator, time logger, and auto temp controller -- expressly made for an equal number of locally based multinational manufacturers and which are still in use. In-between all that, he also fell in love, got married, and sired four children with another one on the way that he prays will be a boy, this time. Now, what's the future like for Love Notes considering that it merely plays on unfolding variations of the same theme, that could one day become tiring it not trying The idea that it will all end up with a few sour notes never really occurred to Joe D'Mango. He says, "It's the same theme but each love story is as unique as the individuals who are involved in its simplicity or complexity. It is also for this reason that my programs offer neither surefire formulas nor solutions to falling in or out of love and back again. "My style of counseling, since I am not a qualified shrink, is to draw parallels from other love stories and snippets from established Christian doctrines relative to harmonious relationships. Besides, a great number of these individuals who send me letters already know what to do in most cases. Like most everybody else, all that they really need is a sympathetic listener or it possible, just another shoulder to cry on."